Donor of the Day by Kevin Parks

Nov 27, 2013

An Excerpt from Our Junior Board Co-Chair, Kevin Parks, Donor of the Day fundraising initiatives:

Finally, I have the opportunity to tip my hat to the straw that stirs the drink. When I think about my life in the last few years, I realize that Tuesday’s Children had its generous paws all over just about every major event. Granted, most of the time it was me just pimping the Tuesday’s Children name for my benefit. Business school? I wrote my application essay about my marathon fundraising, including excerpts from selected Donor of the Day tributes; Boston Marathon? I grew a beard and made people donate to Tuesday’s Children in order to justify to co-workers looking the way I did; my penchant for penning manifestos stems from – and is inspired by – my more than four-year involvement with the most genuine and selfless team I’ve ever known.

You see, I wasn’t always a spotlight-hogging, attention-starved diva. For most of my life, I tended towards introversion and always had a difficult time opening up to even my closest friends to share my story. Then, along came Tuesday’s Children; to be fair, the charity had been doing amazing things since 2001 and I was very late to the party. But, as they say – better late than never. The call I made to Terry at Tuesday’s Children is one of the most important of my adult life, and I am simply a much better person for having done so. Ike Newton once said, more or less, “I have seen further by standing on the shoulders of giants.” Well, if my vision is 20/20, you can attribute that directly to Tuesday’s Children, and the empowerment with which it has equipped me.

Anything I say about Tuesday’s Children in this Donor of the Day tribute will be something that either I or others have said before. Actually, I’ve definitely already said or written it before in one of the many press mediums I’ve linked up with, thanks entirely to Tuesday’s Children. People are involved with charities for many reasons, and I firmly believe that any reason is a good reason; the people who have donated money to my fundraising campaign are all personal heroes of mine, the Tuesday’s Children employees who donate their time and energy to the cause everyday are truly on another level.

I’m generally not good at economizing my words, but that is certainly Tuesday Children’s fault. I owe so much to Tuesday Children for the impactful role it has played in my life, it’s just not possible for me to express it concisely. If Tuesday Children asks me to jump, I not only ask how high, but also, “Would you like me to wear a Santa Claus costume while I do?” I’d do anything for Tuesday Children and more – it’s the primary reason I wear my heart on my sleeve, and guess what? YOU CAN TOO!

If you want to become an inspirational fundraiser like Kevin, email Amanda to get started today!